A Story of Grace Part 4: Trouble Ahead
by thatblue
Summary: "Like Pompeii?" "Worse...so much worse."
1. Chapter 1

**Don't own Doctor Who. **

The Doctor, Donna, Grace and Jack were sitting in the library enjoying the first quiet moment they had found in the last week or so. Apparently if you put four people who only rarely need to sleep into a time machine all kinds of trouble can be found. And they were all so good at finding it on their own; they were bound to attract it as a group.

The Doctor looked up from his reading, trying to be discreet so as not to bother the others. His family, even Jack now was a part of it. He wasn't going anywhere, and even though the Doctor didn't make it known, he was loved. Donna and Jack seemed to be very absorbed in their books but Grace didn't appear to actually be reading at all. She was looking at the pages, but he was much too familiar with her to believe that she was looking at the words. No she looked to be thinking, which could be dangerous. A bored Grace was trouble waiting to happen.

He looked back down to his book; to be honest he was only pretending to be reading himself. He was trying to think of the perfect place to take them next. He had read most of the things in this library many times, and he was getting a bit bored himself. His boredom also tended to lead to trouble, so he was trying to fight it, but failing.

He looked more intently at his book but couldn't make himself take in the words. It was then that the TARDIS jerked rapidly, throwing them all out of their chairs in surprise. When he managed to get up he looked at the other, he wanted to run to the control room and see what was going on but now that he had them, they were more important.

"Everyone okay?"

There were three murmurs that seemed to be affirmative so he raced from the room with them following behind. He looked over the console and then pulled the screen to him. They had landed somewhere, but he hadn't been the one in charge of where.

"Everything okay?" Donna asked him.

He nodded looking to her and smiling. "Yes, we've landed. Who's up for a little trip on a mystery planet?"

"Finally," Grace let out a sigh. "I couldn't do it any longer. Really, if I had to read one more word about particles I was going to chuck the book out."

"There are other books you know," the Doctor told her with a smile. He knew the feeling.

"Yes," she agreed. "Now mystery planet. Just me that's curious."

She looked around the room.

Finally Jack smiled. "Of course not, I'm interested."

"Smooth," Donna told him softly. "Always agree, makes things easier."

Jack gave her a wink, which no longer was flirting, and looked to Grace. "You first, honey."

"Thank you…turtle dove," she told him with a laugh.

She ran to the door before the Doctor could stop her and opened it stepping out. When they joined her, he was pleased to see that everything looked calm as far as he could see. Usually when the TARDIS took control there was something awful that they were about to walk into, though he knew that at those times they were needed. Still, it was nice to see only sunshine and clear green skies.

Grace was looking around, trying to search her memory for this place. She hadn't been here on her own, but she had seen a lot of memories of his. But not this one, because in the second he realized where they were he also knew that he kept this memory locked away. He knew what happened here, but he wasn't sure how far away they were from that event.

As far as he was concerned it would never be far enough away.

"Where are we," she finally asked him, and he didn't miss the troubled look on her face.

She didn't have to know the truth to know that there was something wrong. He imagined she could feel the energy rippling around her too; the kind that only comes before a big, very fixed moment in time. But there was nothing they could do to fix this, and he didn't know why the TARDIS brought them. He didn't know why but he knew that they would be staying. He wouldn't make them watch it, wouldn't let them see the suffering.

"Doctor?" Donna asked him softly. "What's wrong?"

He sniffed and tried to put on a positive smile. They were all looking at him, because that was who he was. The one who stood in the way, the one who protected, and he loved it even at its worst. But this was pushing it. "This is the planet of Gratitude, and we are leaving."

They didn't question, not even Grace, but when he tried to open the TARDIS door it wouldn't budge. "No," he whispered resting his head on the door and speaking very low but fiercely. "Don't do this, please. Don't make us watch this. Don't make Grace watch this." He begged with all that he had, not too ashamed to do so if it meant those doors opened and they could go somewhere else.

"Its okay, Dad," Grace said and reached for his hand. "If we are meant to stay, then that's what we'll do."

He looked down at their linked fingers, and then into her eyes, so young, so innocent. "You don't understand, love."

"No," she agreed, without breaking eye contact. "But I know those doors won't open, which means we are meant to stay."

"Is it safe to walk ahead," Jack asked looking at the Doctor and then Grace.

He was asking if it was okay to distract Grace so he could talk to Donna. Jack was a good man. "Yes, it's fine. Don't go too far."

Jack took the hand that Grace had free and with a small sad smile she released the Doctor and walked away from him. Both he and Donna watched them go and when she was certain that they couldn't hear Donna turned to him.

"Doctor?" She didn't sound scared, no she was much to brave for that, but she did sound a bit desperate.

"I'm sorry, Donna," he told her softly.

"Like Pompeii?"

"Worse," he admitted. "So much worse."


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor had told her the horrible details and she felt her hearts break. She didn't want to be here, she didn't want her family to be here. Didn't want her daughter to have to witness something like this, though it would have happened at some point anyway, because for all they tried they couldn't shelter her forever. And they had tried, making every decision about what would get her safe, and what would keep her hidden from the universe. Although they had already seen proof that you couldn't keep something hidden forever, and they had already almost paid the price.

They were walking over the small hill that separated them and Jack and Grace when she saw Jack come into view. He was squatted down facing them, but he was looking at something on the ground. It only took a moment to realize that Grace wasn't anywhere to be seen. She looked to the Doctor who she could see had noticed and he sped up, closing the gap between them and Jack.

"Where's Grace?" He asked his tone level.

Jack looked around behind him and then stood up, "She was right here, I mean it, only a second ago. She pointed out that the grass was shining and I stopped to look."

They were all looking around frantically. The Doctor had assured Donna that the virus wouldn't affect them, as none of them had the right biological make up, but that didn't mean that Grace wasn't in any kind of danger. She found herself wishing for just a moment that Grace would stay on Earth with Jack, but then remembered that she couldn't escape who she was even there.

"Grace," the Doctor and Jack were shouting but Donna knew that she wouldn't answer.

Maybe it was a mother's instinct but she knew that Grace hadn't just walked a little ahead. She moved closer to the two of them, the ones that were supposed to be strong and saw the panic in their eyes. It was love, different kinds, but unmoving and undying and they were scared.

She was too, and though she knew it wasn't Jack's fault she found herself angry with him and told him about it in great detail. At least until the Doctor murmured to her softly that it wasn't his fault. She apologized and he accepted it but they were all at a loss. This world was about to die, and somewhere out there was one little missing Time Lord, who had proven herself capable time and time again. But that didn't change the fear, the fear she would always have when her child was missing.

DW

Grace was waking, well a little, she found that though her mind was working her body wasn't any closer to pulling out of its induced sleep. She was irritated though, as she had been kidnapped again. Yes, the first time she had offered herself as bait, but that didn't give just anyone the right to drug her and take her to a mystery location. And if there were shackles, she would make the Oncoming Storm look like a kitten.

Oncoming storm, he hated that name, said it wasn't a source of pride for him. She understood this, very well, and she had seen more dark memories than she ever would want to but that didn't make him any less of a man. He had been so scared when he had opened that door, fearful that she wouldn't accept him anymore, but she hadn't thought twice. He was the man who had raised her, rocked her when she was young or sick. He had taught her how to ride a bike, indulged random ideas, and loved her with a love that couldn't be measured or defined. The Oncoming Storm, well that wasn't anything compared to who he was now.

And to make him see that, she brought it up at random times, and he would explain once again, why he didn't like that name. And she would listen, always listened, even when she acted like she wasn't, but then talk anyway. And as time passed the words made him less upset, and she had even managed to make him smile about it a couple times.

Her memories started moving quickly as though they were on a rolodex, still neatly categorized but rapid and off. Her mind was wibbly, yes, that was a good word. It worked for the mind, for time, and Jell-O. When the movement ceased she could see the edges of the memory and really she couldn't not look, it was right there. Her mental self took a peek.

_It was Christmas, she was about thirteen. Same hair, same eyes, but she was still so young. She was decorating the tree and the Doctor was using the sonic on the lights and Donna was decorating on the other side of the room. Grace looked to her father and tried not to laugh._

"_Dad?"_

"_Hmmm?" Was the only response she got in his deep concentration._

"_You're going to shock yourself," she told him softly._

"_Of course I'm not," he started then the wires sparked and he dropped them shaking the sting from his hand._

"_Told you," she said with a smile. He looked at her now and smiled also._

"_Yes," he agreed and bent to pick the bundle back up._

"_Dad," she tried again._

"_Yes Grace?"_

"_You know how you are the Oncoming Storm?" She approached the subject carefully._

"_Yes," he looked at her fully, as she had captured his attention. "I told you…"_

"_I get it," she said softly, "Not good. Anyway was wondering if I could have a name?"_

"_You have a name, more than one in fact," he told her, clearly trying to change the subject._

"_You know what I mean," she shook her head, pressing on despite his intense look. "Could I be like the Oncoming Rainbow?"_

_The look never changed, but she didn't miss the slight twitch of his mouth as he almost smiled. Donna had turned around to watch them now and she was looking between Grace and the Doctor. When she didn't tell her to stop Grace pressed on, with her Mother's unspoken permission._

"_No? How about the Approaching Drizzle?" He didn't bat an eye. "Tough crowd. Let's see, Nearing Dusting?" _

_His mouth twitched again. "Grace."_

"_Walking Sunshine," she threw out, though all the names were silly._

_He finally smiled, "Sure, I like that one."_

"_Really," Grace questioned._

"_Yes, that sounds like you. Our little walking sunshine."_

"_I don't think you're good at names, Daddy."_

_He crinkled his brow, "I think I did fine with you, young lady."_

"_I'm the exception."_

"_My love, you are the rule and the exception." He returned to his task._

"_I'm going to take that as a compliment, and since you don't seem to enjoy my names I'll just keep them to myself."_

_She waited, hoping that he was relaxed enough to take the bait. "Oh, go on, let me hear them."_

_And she had, making up crazy combination one after the other and eventually he had even laughed. Then he thanked her, and though he never explained they both knew why._

She withdrew from the memory, but found herself no closer from escaping from her mind. Whoever had drugged her, had given her a little too much, and given the chance she would tell them so.

She knew her parents must be worried. They were always worried, claiming her importance at every chance. She ignored it as best as she could, she knew that it was true in the biological sense but any farther than that and she was just her. Nothing particularly special and she was fine with that. And Jack, he was out there too, and she knew that he must be worried. She was a lucky girl, with a family like them.

There was a time, before the Angels that she didn't feel this way towards him, but he had always been there. And the way he looked at her sometimes, made her feel like he was always the one that she would love. Like he had been waiting her whole life, and though he had been there her whole life, he had always been the appropriate man in whatever age she was.

A father figure, a friend, and now something more, and if you really thought about it for too long it seemed odd. He had watched her so many times when her parents had wandered off on some dangerous trip.

And with that very thought, the rolodex gave another spin. When it stopped again, she didn't hesitate. There was an odd sense of clarity in this moment and she rather liked having the time to indulge in memories.

"_Jack," Grace prodded, now she was sixteen. "Why did you make me come to work with you?"_

"_It's fun," he argued, "Alien stuff, feels like home."_

_She studied him carefully, and he gave her a smile. "You brought me here to help you identify items again, didn't you?"_

"_No," he drew out the word and glanced away. "But now that you mention it, that's a great idea. How about it? Help me out?"_

_She made a show of sighing but she didn't really mind. And sometimes Ianto would make her something wonderful to drink and keep her company. He was quiet but he was nice, and he helped her with the paperwork. _

"_Okay."_

_And that's what she was doing for what felt like hours, Ianto coming and going, when at last Jack came to get her. She was holding a long cylinder in her hands rolling in absently back and forth. _

"_What's that?"_

"_That's the problem; I don't want to fill out the paperwork for this." She looked up at him begging him to understand without words._

"_Why?" No such luck._

"_Its…for lonely aliens," she told him softly, trying very hard not to blush._

"_You're telling me, that aliens use that to…"_

"_Yes," she told him. "On the plus side it's very clean. Rift took care of that."_

"_That will help me sleep at night, thanks," he told her. "A specific species?"_

_She shook her head, wishing she didn't know a thing about what she was holding. "No, it's widely sold, in specialty stores. I'm kind of surprised you didn't know about it."_

"_That's offensive," he joked._

_She shrugged. "Doesn't make it untrue."_

"_Go get your coat, we are leaving."_

"_All I have to do to get out of here is find a…"_

"_Coat, Grace," he insisted, more firmly._

_She sighed. "You sound like my father."_

_When she was walking away, she heard him call to her back, "In a couple of years you are going to regret that choice of words."_

She was ripped from this memory, and she felt hands shaking her. Time to wake up.


	3. Chapter 3

Grace opened her eyes slowly as she tried to move her body but she was tied to a chair. Always with the restraints. She looked around the room, well the part of the room that she could see, and they appeared to be in a lab. This couldn't be going anywhere good, she muttered to herself. A man came into a view, a human she would say if she had to guess. Or at least very human like.

"Sorry about the extended sleep," the deep voice spoke. "I was never good at that kind of thing."

Grace sighed softly. "Why am I here?" Right to the point.

"You are here because I needed you," he answered. "My name is Abel."

She looked at him, "So what do you need from me then Abel?"

Abel smiled softly and shifted nervously. "Did you know that you are known well in this Universe? There isn't much that is passed on about your intelligence…"

"That's a bit disappointing," Grace interrupted.

"But your kindness is the stuff of legend," he continued.

"I'm going to stop you here, Abel. Because the fact is that I really am brilliant. Enough if fact, to know that you think my kindness is going to help you stop what is coming. But I can't. Whatever happens is fixed." She told him, hoping that he would stop there.

"No," he growled, but sighed and calmed down again. "It doesn't have to happen. You and I are going to change things."

She looked at him, trying to fill in the mental blanks. "What happened here?" She didn't want to ask, but she somehow knew that she had to.

"In three hours, this vial," he held up a vial of deep red blood. "Is going to break, releasing a virus that will wipe out the planet in an hour."

Grace looked away, tears fighting to come to the surface but she refused. There would be time for tears later but she couldn't break now. "You weren't here when it happened."

"No," he said quietly. "I was on a business trip. And I came back, to find everything gone, and it took me weeks to find this lab. To find the last message that was recorded as the scientist was dying."

"Listen," Grace tried. "I am very, so very, sorry. But I can't do anything to stop this, and neither can you. You need to get on that ship and go."

"No," he said with the same force as before. "I lost everything. I have four children, just babies. They died, don't you understand? Two million lives, in half an hour. I knew your father wouldn't help me. But you..."

"Can't do anything," she corrected, and she felt her hearts breaking. "Why not my mother?"

"What?"

"Why didn't you take her," Grace asked, knowing the answer but certain that he needed to say it.

"I don't understand," he tried, but was lying.

"Because you thought she might actually do it? She wouldn't have, but you didn't know that. And you don't want to stop this, just for it not to be your fault." She encouraged.

There was a long pause. "I wasn't here."

"You would have died too," she spoke almost too soft to hear. "This was always going to happen."

He looked at her again, tears brimming making his deep blue eyes seem light. "The virus," he swallowed. "It's from another species. Just a minor illness for them, but for us, it was deadly. And they brought it here. How could they do that?"

Grace didn't answer at first. "I'm sorry."

"You don't get to say that," he seemed to find his resolve. "You didn't lose everything."

She shook her head. "No, it was already lost when I was born."

He sighed. "Only three of you left," he agreed.

She nodded.

"Can you cure the virus?"

She bit her lip. Sure, there was a good chance that she could, but that would never be an option. Two million were going to die, and she was the one signing the execution order. "You know that I can't do that. In three hours that vial will break."

"What if I don't let it, what if I hold it until it's too late?"

"Please don't," she tried.

"But what if I do?"

She looked down, hating herself for what she was about to do. When she looked back up, she could see the fear cross his face. He took a step back, but she didn't blink. At the end of the day, no matter what she tried, this was who she was. The one who had the final say, the one who could see it all, and had to stand by when something so awful had to be, and she was the one who had to seal the fate of so many lives. She was a Time Lord, and it was as much a curse as it was a gift.

And with one look, he knew that she was the one in control in this room, and that those ropes that bound her, couldn't contain her.

DW

The Doctor and Donna and Jack were searching around the town they had come to first. They had to ask questions carefully so that they didn't raise suspension.

"She just wandered off," the Doctor lied. "Have you seen her?"

"No," the store owner told him, kindly. "I know that look of worry though. My children have that sense of adventure."

The Doctor allowed a smile that he couldn't feel. "Thanks anyway…How old are your children?" He didn't know why he was doing this to himself.

He didn't need a little face to haunt him, but he said the words and he couldn't take them back now.

"I have a three year old and a seven year old," he smiled. "Would you like to see a picture?"

"Sure," the Doctor agreed.

And there they were, so much more real now that he had seen their faces. He couldn't stop what happened here, but maybe he could give this man, who was about to lose it all, a small suggestion.

"Go home," he told him softly. "Go home and hug your family and stay there."

The man looked at him and then nodded. No question, because the haunted look in the Doctors eyes, were answering. "Okay."

The Doctor gave him a real smile, and he turned and walked away. He shouldn't have interfered but if he had been that man, he would have wanted to spend his last moments with the ones he loved. Donna reached his side.

"Okay, love?" She asked and wiped a tear from his face.

"Yes," he agreed. "Anything?"

"No…I may have sent her home to her family though," she admitted softly.

"Whole town's going to be shut down," the Doctor told her. "I told mine too."

"Lovely lady," Jack told them as he rejoined. "Just married."

"You sent her home didn't you," Donna asked him.

"Maybe," he agreed.

The Doctor stopped. "We can't talk to anyone else," he told them.

They nodded. Three people were enough to make a difference…anymore and someone might start to notice them and start to question.

"So it's a virus, right?"

The Doctor nodded and then shook his head to clear it. "And if someone wanted to stop this from happening…"

"A lab?"

The Doctor nodded. "Got to be."

He ran to talk to one more person, only stopping to ask one question and then leaving before he could find out what this virus was going to take from them. "There are three labs."

"One at each," Jack agreed.


	4. Chapter 4

"What's your name?" Abel asked.

He had untied her, but she didn't move, and wouldn't until she knew that what had to happen was done. "Grace."

"That's not what I meant," he told her leaning against the counter, the vial of blood still in his hand.

"I don't think…"

"Please," he asked her.

She sighed. "I'm the Keeper."

He bit his lip, "Did you get to pick it?"

"No," she shook her head. "It was a prophecy."

"Oh," he sighed. "So you are something that was always meant to be."

She didn't know why he was doing this. "I suppose."

"What does the prophecy say?"

She shook her head, "I really don't know Abel. They won't tell me."

"If it involved the death of your family, would you fight it?"

At least he made his intention clear. "Don't do this, Abel."

"Would you? Or would you let time decide that they were going to die. Just sit by, and let them be erased."

She didn't answer, and she didn't know if she didn't want to or couldn't. She didn't think that the prophecy had anything to do with anyone dying. The little bits she had picked up were more about situations such as this. She thought she was meant to be the Keeper of Time.

"Well?"

She scratched her ear, and redirected. "You know what they call my father."

"The Oncoming Storm?"

"Yes."

"I'm aware."

"And you just kidnapped his daughter."

She wasn't trying to threaten him; she just wanted him to think about this situation. She wanted him to climb into that ship he was supposed to be on and go.

"Rumor has it that he has lost a lot of that anger," Abel said softly.

"Would you be angry if it was your child?"

Abel frowned. "You wouldn't let him hurt me?"

She sighed again. "Just go, Abel. Please."

"I can't," he told her, looking at the vial. "I don't understand why this has to happen. Can you tell me that?"

Could she explain the injustice of the Universe? No.

She heard a noise behind her and then a door swung open, she spun around as Abel moved back towards the other door.

Jack looked from her to Abel and he began to move towards them but Grace held up a hand.

"Don't Jack," she told him softly. "He is holding a very important vial in his hand, and we don't need it broken, yet."

Jack nodded, but still moved to her side. "Are you all right?"

She smiled up at him, "Always."

Jack returned her smile. "Of course, your parents are in a panic."

He looked back up at Abel. "Why?"

"Jack," Grace stood and touched his arms softly. "Don't please."

Jack moved his eyes back to her, and she knew that he wanted to say a million things to Abel but he didn't. Is she had doubted his love, which she didn't, she couldn't now. It was the only thing keeping him from doing what he saw fit.

"Jack," she spoke softly, looking to Abel who was farther away but had stopped moving and was watching them with wide eyes. "This is Abel. He has four children, and a wife."

She tried to explain without saying that he was about to lose them.

Jack's face softened. "I'm sorry," he told Abel. "I really am, but the Doctor says that this has to happen."

Abel sighed.

"Where are they?" Grace asked Jack.

"There were two other labs, we split up."

She bit her lip while Jack watched her carefully. She knew he was trying to figure out what she needed from him. But she didn't know at that moment.

"Abel," she looked at him. "How did the vial break?"

Abel shook his head. "I don't know. The video just said that he found it after it had broken."

Grace ran a hand slowly down her face, and looked at the ground. "Please, no."

"Grace?" Jacks voice was concerned.

"Did they tell you what happened in Pompeii?"

Jack looked from her to the vial and back. "It can't be you."

"Well," Grace reasoned. "It can't him."

"Maybe it's me," Jack offered his voice catching.

She knew that he would be willing to take that from her if he could. "Maybe."

"Or maybe it's someone else," he told her, pulling her to him while Abel stood there in the silence. "It could be right?"

She gulped. She didn't lie to Jack, at least not if it could be helped but she was considering it right now. For all that she could see, she had to know that it would be her or Jack. She didn't know which yet, but one of them was going to cause a world to die.

"Or we can stop it; if the vial has to break you can cure the virus." Abel was trying with all he had. He knew that time was closing in.

"They have to die?" Jack asked close to her ear.

She nodded. "It's not the vial, it's the people. It's the lives that are fixed."

She could see the moment Abel gave in to the inevitable.

"Go," she told him, her voice strained but she forced it out. "This isn't your fault. You aren't the one who did this, okay?"

He nodded and looked to the vial. He closed his eyes for a moment. "I just get on my ship and go. Right?"

She nodded. "Yes. You can't be here."

He bit his lip. "Do you think they forgive me?"

She forced a smile. "I'm sure they do, Abel."

Tears rolled down his face, and she was fighting her own. He finally sighed and moved his arm with the vial and stepped to hand it to her. She took it and she looked to Jack.

"Take him to his ship, please," she tried to sound strong.

Jack nodded. "I'll come right back," he promised.

"You better," she was losing her battle with the tears and one slipped free.

He wiped it gently away with his thumb. He swallowed and leaned in slowly giving her time to move. When she didn't he pressed his lips to her, just for a second, before he pulled away. Their first kiss, on the eve of devastation, and she knew that was the life of a Time Lord.

"I love you, Grace Noble."

"I love you, Jack," she murdered.

He kissed her again, just as quickly and then he and Abel walked out of the lab.


	5. Chapter 5

Both doors were locked, she had made sure. Twenty minutes had passed. Twenty minutes, one Time Lord brain, one blood sample, one microscope, and one decontamination shower later, she was on the floor leaning against the counter holding the vial to her chest.

Jack wasn't back yet, and she hadn't seen either of her parents, so she was alone with her thoughts. She had lied to Jack and Abel, had told them that it was the lives that were fixed but it was the vial too. Not one thing could change in this situation.

But she still had taken the sample, still had put it under the microscope. This virus was like nothing she had ever seen, mutating about every three seconds, so fast that there could be no cure for it. Well, not without someone like her, who with enough time would be able to predict the mutation far enough ahead to have the cure ready.

There wasn't enough time for that, and part of her was thankful. All that is, was, could be, and must not ever and she still had thought about re-writing history. Maybe she wasn't as smart as she had claimed.

How could she be when she knew what would come and still think about trying to stop it?

Because the horrible fact was- if she didn't let this vial break, they wouldn't be able to cure it. And when they finally gave up, they would send it to another planet, but it would break on the ship that was taking it.

All but three people would die, and one of the ones who didn't would take that virus to their home planet. In the end it would wipe out 57…no 58 planets. Grace's mind conjured up an image of a tornado, like back on Earth. Hitting one place and completely missing something next door. Except this was entire planets.

If she didn't let this wipe out 2 million people, and let the quarantine go up, then that number would jump to 20 billion lives. And she could only feel sick to her stomach, tears falling and then she heard a knock.

She was expecting Jack, but she saw her father's face, anxious and sad.

"Grace, let me in," he told her.

She forced a smile, and shook her head. Rising from her spot, her hand still holding that vial tightly, she walked over to the door so that they could talk properly.

"Daddy," she told him, all the words of strength she was trying for was lost. For all she tried to be an adult she was just a child.

"Oh, honey," he moaned. "Let me in, I'll do this, okay?"

She shook her head, and swallowed but she could do nothing for the tears that wouldn't slow. "No."

"Where's Jack," he asked her softly, his voice holding an edge of hope.

"Took someone to their ship," she told him, and heard a knock on the other door.

Jack looked just as lost as her father and she knew that she was hurting them by keeping them out. But she also knew that someone had to break this vial and she wouldn't let either one of them take the weight.

"I…" she tried, looking from Jack to the Doctor.

If she told him that she thought of stopping it she didn't think that he would be proud of her. She knew better, and there was no excuse.

"Why can't you stop it," the Doctor asked. She looked up at him shocked, so he clarified. "I know you tried, honey, and I love you for it. No worries, but why can't you?"

She felt touched, but imagined he wasn't actually pleased with her. She wasn't happy with herself. "It's mutating." It was a simple answer, but he was smart and she could see it click in his expression.

"Even if you could," he told her, placing his hand on the glass, wanting her to let him help. "You couldn't stop this, love. You see what would happen."

She nodded, and rolled her eyes to Jack. He was looking at her carefully and with a glance she walked away from her father, hearing the sonic go off behind the door. He had to try, but she made sure he couldn't get in.

She reached the door where Jack was waiting.

"Grace, you don't have to do this."

"Show me someone else," she told him, the words coming out harsh but that wasn't her intention.

He didn't seem to notice. "I can do it."

A glance over her shoulder showed her that he mother had joined the Doctor. Three people who step in this room, and take over the burden of wiping out a planet, but that really wasn't an option was it? If this had to be done, and it did, she would be the only one to carry this load.

It would hurt, it did hurt, but how could she ask someone she loved to take that. She couldn't.

"Grace Elizabeth Noble," Donna's voice was loud even through the door. "Open it, now."

She looked back at her mother, and gave her a smile she couldn't feel. Understanding filled her mother's face, but not acceptance.

"Come here Grace," she spoke softer now.

Grace walked over, and when she looked back Jack had left. She supposed it was for the best. Hopefully he would forgive her someday.

"Mom," Grace told her, looking up into two faces that shined with complete love.

She couldn't ever doubt their love; they had shown it her whole life. She was lucky in that way.

"Oh, sweetheart, please. You don't have to be alone in there."

Grace swallowed hard, and she found herself reaching for the lock. She paused, her fingers on the door. If she let them in, they would find a way to do this, they would take the burden. And a small part of her wanted that. They were her parents, and they were supposed to make things better.

She withdrew her hand.

DW

The Doctor watched and Donna and Grace spoke, but he wasn't dedicating much of him to listening. He was trying to figure out how to get into that room. The glass was thick; they were only able to hear through the small holes, for that very purpose.

He had known that she would have checked the virus, and if it had been him, he imagined he would have least taken a look. He knew that she could see the consequences of her actions but she was so young. He had so many more years of practice. He knew about hurt, but he knew how to heal.

He feared for what this would do to that fragile, amazing little girl. He knew even if they took this from her, the day was still coming. They had heard the prophecy days before her birth, words, vague as they always were about the little girl of two Lords of Time. She would grow, and she would be The Keeper. The one who would save them all, but from what he wasn't sure.

But she was the Keeper of time, of moments, of every that had to be done. It wouldn't be an easy life, for his little girl. But he didn't have to stand by and let her live it alone. Donna and he and Jack had poured out their love for her, making certain that she knew that she wasn't alone. Not alone in that little room, with a vial that was going to kill.

Not alone in the darkest corners of space, never, never alone. And never unloved, but he could see her breaking. And he knew that she loved them too much, and was too smart to open that door.


	6. Chapter 6

Jack had made his way around to where the Doctor and Donna were, but he wouldn't understand the conversation that was taking place. Grace had switched to Gallifreyan, her words so sad they simple couldn't be done justice in any other language.

Time was almost done, down to the last minutes. He had held out hope that maybe someone would show, someone who was the one meant to break the vial but no one did.

He could see it in Grace's eyes when she knew that she was going to have to step back and kill 2 million people. He didn't waste any time. He wouldn't let her do this, not without being told again that she wasn't alone.

He moved to Donna's side, hand pressed against the glass his hearts breaking for the girl on the other side. He spoke softly, as calmly as he could manage, but the words were clear.

He told her that she was loved, and this wasn't her fault, told her over and over that she was forgiven.

Her eyes were so lost when she took the first step away from her, and he nodded. Saying a final piece of encouragement. Ni'si Sop'Aet Kui'La.

She nodded.

He couldn't help but count down the seconds and when it hit zero she pulled her hand away from her body, and opened her palm with her eyes open. She watched the vial shatter and she swallowed and took a step away.

Without another look she walked to the door and opened it, falling out into her their open arms. She wasn't crying anymore, which scared him more than he tears had. She looked lost.

He took her hand, leading her away before the scientist who had made the discovery could see them there. The town was too close, and they had to walk by people who were already gone. Bodies scattered, dead before they could stop walking.

Grace didn't look, but he knew that she saw. He could feel her tremble but it was the only indication that she was even aware.

Donna tried to hold her other hand but Grace wouldn't let her, holding tighter to the Doctor. Donna looked hurt, but the Doctor also knew that whatever kind of comfort Grace needed was what she would have.

And the Doctor knew, at some point, Donna was going to be the only person that Grace wanted. Just not yet.

The TARIDS opened easily now, and he wanted so much to yell at her. He knew better, knew that this was something that had to happen, but that didn't change the anger of a father.

She tried to release his hand inside but he wouldn't let her. Unsure if she should be alone right now.

"Grace," he returned to English. She had always loved it, said it felt right in her mouth.

She didn't look at him, which made him worry all the more. If she wasn't holding his hand, he would afraid she had gone all the way into shock. The emotional pain wouldn't be so easily fixed but he could at least bring her back to them.

"Right," he announced to Donna and Jack. "We are all going to have a quick scan in the med-bay and then I think we need something to drink."

He didn't bother asking Grace, just lifting her up into his arms and she didn't fight him, but he took comfort in the fact she nuzzled into his chest.

He whispered softly to her, "That's it, Grace. Daddy's here. I'll make this better."

He carried her to the med-bay and laid her out on the table and set up the scanner. He wanted to make sure she hadn't been injured when she had been taken and make certain that the virus didn't touch them. He was sure that it wouldn't but that didn't keep him from worrying. These were the people he loved.

"I thought you said it wouldn't affect us, Doctor," Donna asked him moving to his side.

"I just want to make sure," he said, knowing how weak his voice sounded.

He scanned Grace quickly, finding her fine, aside from the mental trauma.

After Donna and the Jack were checked, they scanned him. The TARDIS confirmed they were clean and he moved back to Grace who was looking at the ceiling.

She was so strong, his girl, but there wasn't any way he thought she could do this and not bat an eye.

"It's okay, love. You can cry."

He waited, prayed-something he rarely did before her but found himself constantly doing now…though he wasn't entirely sure who to.

She didn't speak, or cry, but she did reach out for him and he moved to hold her. He pulled her up to sit, moved beside her on the bed and then pulled her body onto his lap and rocked her slowly.

"I'll make the drinks," Donna told him watching with a sad smile.

He nodded his appreciation, knowing he would hold her until she was able to cry. No matter how long that took. He wasn't going to leave her alone to do this. She had saved him and he would save her.

DW

Donna made tea for them and hot chocolate for Grace. Well Jack made the hot chocolate searching for something to do. He sighed and she really looked at him for the first time since they have been back.

"You okay, Jack?"

He nodded. "You?"

"Soon as she is I will be," Donna admitted.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Donna…"

She could hear his voice crack and she reached for his hand. She led him to the table and they sat, while she waited for him to speak again.

"This isn't me."

Donna frowned. "What isn't you?"

"This man I've become. This man who can't breathe at the thought that something could or did happen to the woman he loves. "

Donna didn't answer at first. Though they all knew, even Grace now, this was the first time he admitted that he loved her out loud.

"Do you regret who you have become?" She really didn't know what he was saying, but was certain if he was thinking of hurting Grace she might kill him.

"No," he shook his head. "Never. I am a better man than I knew that I was capable of being. Beyond that even. But Donna, when I think of her, I can think of nothing else. I can't be a soldier when I'm consumed by the desire to make her happy."

"You mean you feel like you can't protect her."

Jack nodded. "This life Donna…"

He didn't have to finish, they both knew. This life was dangerous beyond words, and even when the danger wasn't physical, there was something out there that was capable of ripping your heart from your chest- no many how many you had. But they had signed up for this, and she knew that Jack was thinking that Grace hadn't.

"You think she would rather be…what on Earth."

Jack let a real smile grace his features. "Like you could tie that girl down. No…she is meant for this. Born for it."

Donna smiled. "You heard the prophecy."

He nodded.

"She is going to hurt again, Jack. And there is nothing we can do but stand by her, with her. She needs you as much as she needs us."

He nodded again. "I'm so scared of losing her."

Donna understood, she really did, but she had learned in time. You couldn't live your life in fear of what you might lose, because it hid what you already had.

"Me too, always and forever. Or you or the Doctor, but Jack that's love. It's so scary, but when you look at someone and all you can think is that you had no idea how empty your life was before them…well that's worth the worry."

Jack reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "When did you become so wise?"

"Always have been, you just didn't listen well enough."

He grinned.


	7. Chapter 7

At long last she finally started crying against his chest. The hot chocolate had been half drank, with a lot of encouragement, when she finally seemed to come back to the world.

And now his shirt was soaked but at least she was doing something. Anything that let him know that she was broken but not beyond repair, and that gave him hope that with time she could be fixed.

"Oh, love," he whispered to her hair. "Let it out."

And she did, Jack and Donna sitting there watching and waiting in case they were needed.

"Mom," came the muffled voice, and she pulled her head out.

Donna rose up from her chair at once, ready to be needed. She was always ready to be needed.

"I'm here, Grace," she moved to sit beside the Doctor and rubbed Grace's back.

"I wanna go to bed, Mom," Grace told her, the tears slowing and exhaustion setting in.

"Okay," she agreed, and the Doctor released Grace and she put her feet on the ground, and Donna held her hand and they left the two men there alone.

"How are you, Doctor," Jack asked him, his face sincere.

"I'm okay," the Doctor told him. "It's been a long day."

"Yes, it has," said Jack. "You think she is going to be okay?"

"Yes," the Doctor told him after a moment of thought.

He was sure that she would, no matter his worry. She was strong, so young, but strong. And it might take a little time, but she would have a support system. He had done it without one. He knew the pain of carrying the weight alone and he could promise to the end of time that she would never have to do that.

He was her father, and it was his job.

DW

Grace was tired, so very tired. But the tears were gone, and her mother was humming softly to her while she stroked her hair. Grace wasn't big on being coddled but she let it happen now. Her mother needed it as much as Grace did herself.

"Mom," she spoke softly, not wanting to break the moment but needing to.

"Yes?" The humming stopped but the gently movement didn't.

"I'm sorry," she admitted softly.

She was sorry that she had done it, so sorry that it had to be done but that wasn't what she meant. She was sorry that she had been weak, that she had thought about changing it. And she was sorry that she wasn't who she ought to be.

Donna was so strong, and she didn't back down. Grace knew in her hearts that she didn't deserve to carry the name of Time Lord. She was just a two hearted failure. And those hearts just left her room to feel it all the more.

"Sorry for what?" Donna asked her.

"Maybe you should leave me on Earth."

Surprise flashed in Donnas' eyes. "Why would we do that, Grace? Is that what you want?"

"It's what I deserve."

Grace knew she was making Earth sound like a punishment, but that wasn't what she meant. She meant being stuck in one place was one. She was born to travel but that didn't mean that she deserved it.

"What do you mean, honey?" Donna seemed at a loss.

"Nothing," Grace finally mumbled.

She couldn't tell her mother what she had almost done, but she was sure that her father would. He had known, but he hadn't lectured her about it yet. But that was only because she had been so upset.

"No," Donna moved her hand to Grace's chin and made her face her. "Not nothing. You tell me what's wrong Grace."

Grace was good at stubborn. She had learned from the best. But she just didn't have the energy to fight about this.

"I could have changed it all, Mom," she spoke, her voice more broken than she would have liked. "If I had the time, I could have, and I knew what would happen."

"It's only natural to want to save them," Donna told her, her expression softening.

"Fifty eight planets," Grace told her, knowing that she didn't need to explain. She rolled over and her mother didn't fight her.

Grace would rest, and then she would pack. She would walk away before she made a mistake, before she let her desire rule her responsibility. And maybe somewhere deep inside, she just didn't want to be a Time Lord anymore.

DW

Donna waited until her breathing evened out, and she could hear her heartbeats slow at last, before she moved from her bed. Fifty eight planets, Grace had said, and those words were all it took to bring her back to that day.

Her hands on a lever, over those of a man she barely knew, and it was Pompeii or the world. There was never an option, but she had fought for there to be one.

And when she had finally settled into her room, and washed away the evidence that clung to her hair and body, she had cried. She had known that it would be a scar that she couldn't rid her soul of no matter the wish.

And when she regenerated, it was still there. Something so deep but it served a purpose also. It reminded Donna to remember, and to always try to help. Especially when there was nothing you could do.

The Doctor had come to her that night, and they had chased away the pain together. And when Grace woke she would have a little army fighting to chase it away with her.

They wouldn't take her to Earth; she wouldn't let Grace do this to herself. Self imposed punishments was something she had finally forced the Doctor out of, and she wasn't going to allow it with her child either.

There wasn't a trial, but she was her own judge. And Grace had found herself guilty.


	8. Chapter 8

**Don't own Doctor Who or Lady Antebellum**

Grace woke herself with tears flooding her face, which wasn't usual for her. Usually she projected out good dreams, and as a result she had them herself, but though she was certain she had been offering it to anyone else who slept hers hadn't been good.

She sighed, wiping at her face, hating that she was so weak and hating that she hated herself. She climbed out of bed and went to take a shower. When she was done, she would pack what she could, she could always get the rest on Earth and then she would make them take her there.

They would protest she was certain, thinking that they could change her mind, but they couldn't. She could hear the TARDIS trying her very best to try to comfort her, but she kept the thoughts at bay. She wouldn't push them away because she wasn't rejecting her, but that didn't mean she actually had to listen.

She heard a knock on her bedroom door but she didn't answer. She didn't have anything to say to anyone. She expected them to come in, but when they didn't she let out a sigh.

She knew that she was wrong to be angry at them, but she also knew it was just her way of trying to stop the pain. She knew that this was her, she had caused those deaths and forever that would be on her. And she knew that they would have taken it from her. She hadn't let them.

She also knew that being distance with them would protect her from their disappointment. If she didn't want them then it wouldn't hurt as bad when they didn't want her.

She was throwing clothes into a bag when she heard a knock again. She ignored it again, asking the TARDIS to turn up the music she was playing in the room. The TARDIS did so but Grace didn't miss the helpless hum that she offered.

Grace was asking her to go against what someone in the hall wanted her to do but she did it. She sent out a mental sorry but didn't ask for the music to lower, and she wouldn't.

Even over the music she heard the sonic busy at her door. She should have known it would be him. Her Mom wouldn't be the one to punish her.

The door opened behind her and though she heard him enter she didn't stop packing. She could smell his warm scent. To her it had always been the smell of protection and love…a honey apple. She loved it but now it caused tears to rise again.

Oh, she was going to miss him. She would miss all this so much.

DW

The Doctor had knocked twice now, and he wasn't going to let this go any longer. He had heard the shower, and he could now hear her in her room, so he knew that she was up and moving but that didn't make her okay.

Donna had told him and Jack what she had said about going to stay on Earth but he had hoped with rest she might change her mind. But he knew that her ignoring him like this meant that she hadn't.

The TARDIS was distressed and that made him worry all the more. He heard the music volume increase and he could make out the words to Grace's favorite song. He knew that the TARDIS was torn between what the Doctor wanted and what Grace wanted and had given in to Grace.

He also suspected that if it wasn't life or death Grace would always win. That was fine. He used his sonic on the door, and opened it to Grace's back.

She was packing a bag, but he wasn't surprised. Donna had told him firmly that they weren't taking her back to Earth like this, and he had agreed. But he knew in his hearts that he would only stand in her way as far as it took to protect her.

He really just wanted it to be enough to tell her that she was so loved and forgiven. He had told her before but things change when you are walking by the bodies you created.

She didn't look at him and he moved to sit on her bed. He could give her time, she would break. She needed to break and when she did she would have a soft steady place to fall.

He listened to the words of the song, and he knew that she was listening to it for a reason.

_Wake up every morning and ask yourself_

_What am I doing here anyway?_

_With the weight of all those disappointments_

_Whispering in your ear_

_You're just barely hanging by a thread_

_You wanna scream but you're down to your last breath_

_And you don't know it yet_

He swallowed the lump in his throat, asked the TARDIS to pause the song, and when she did he rose and walked to Grace. It broke his hearts to see her like this and he wanted nothing more than to make her smile again.

"Grace," he took her arm, gently and turned her to face him.

Tears were running down her face, and he thought back to holding her as a baby. All those times she cried and he had been the one to bring back the smiles and laughs. That's what daddy's were for.

"I'm sorry," she told him. He wanted to talk but he knew that she needed to get it out so he waited. "I'm sorry I thought about changing it when I knew what would happen."

He stopped her there. "I told you, Grace. I would have wondered the same. The point is that you didn't."

"What about next time," she asked him. "What happens when I'm too weak to do what is right?"

He bit his lip, somehow knowing that this went beyond what she was saying.

"What's else is wrong, love?"

She looked away but he moved on hand to gently bring her eyes back to his. "I don't want to be this person, Dad."

"What person?"

"I don't want to know that I have to take lives to save lives, and that I know what will happen if I don't. I don't want to carry that around, and I'm so sorry, Daddy."

He pulled her into his arms, knowing the feeling so well. He didn't want to be that person either, but he was and he hated that part of himself. But she didn't understand yet, the most important part of that person. That you were also the person that saved lives.

"Grace," he told her, rubbing circles on her back. "Shhh, you have nothing to be sorry for."

She pulled away and he let her reluctantly, "I don't want to be this anymore, Dad. Take me to Earth, and leave me there."


	9. Chapter 9

"No," the Doctor told her, surprising himself a little. He hadn't intended to stand in her way but he now knew that he would. He was the king of self imposed punishment but she didn't deserve that and he wouldn't let her do it to herself.

"What?" She asked wiping at her face, and it took on a look of defiance that she could have only gotten from her mother. He fought the smile that was trying to rise to the surface but not the thank you that he sent out to the cosmos.

"No, love," he repeated, pulling her gently to the bed and making her sit down. "You are going to tell me whatever it is that is going on in that beautiful brain of yours and then we are going to work through this, do you understand?"

"Of course I understand," she replied, not without sarcasm, but he felt relief that she was fighting back. "I'm a genius, remember."

He allowed a small smile, "I remember. So go on, talk."

"I said I understood, not that I was going to obey," she told him firmly.

He shook his head, forcing himself to push her. This was the only way, even if it made her angry, at least it would be at him and not herself.

"Yes, you will. Because I am your father and you have to do as I say." He was mostly bluffing; though it was true, she was nineteen and rarely listened to him in the first place. Something else she had gotten from her mother.

She raised her eyebrows at him and glared. As long as there was fight in her, he could bring her back to them.

"Now, Grace," he prodded, holding his breath, as he waited. This had to work, because he wasn't going to lose her, and he was going to show her all those people that she saved as soon as he could get her back to her normal self.

She sighed, "Please don't do this, Daddy."

She had to break out the daddy, and he fought back the urge to sweep her into his arms. She could play him like a great big time lord instrument and they both knew it but right now she needed him to be tough.

"Now," he repeated allowing only a trace of softness into his words. "Now, love."

There was a pause in which the TARDIS was offering suggestions to both him and he was certain Grace. And some of them aimed at him weren't very nice, but he knew how fiercely Grace was defended inside these walls.

"I killed them, Dad," she started softly and he looked at her, so thankful that she was trying. "I know I had to, I understand that completely but I did it. I walked by their bodies, and I did that to them."

He didn't try to tell her that it was okay, because it wasn't but he did have to tell her the truth, "It wasn't your fault though. I know…I know…you had the vial but that event was fixed. In two hundred years, they are going to rebuild and they will have a new government, and they will get a second chance."

She knew all this of course, could see it as clearly as he could, but that didn't matter. Sometimes it's the things that we can see that we are most blind to.

"I don't want this, though."

"Don't want what?" He asked but didn't pause for her to answer because he knew. "Don't want to be a killer, because I know that is what you think, but you have never been more wrong Grace."

She glared again, but nodded for him to continue. "Sometimes these awful things have to happen, but they HAVE to happen, and if it wasn't you it still would have happened. I would have walked into that room and done that for you, Grace, you know that. Would you have called me a killer?"

"No," she admitted softly, and the look she gave him melted everything in him once again.

He didn't deserve her love, so pure and unconditional that it made him weak. It was why he worked so hard to be the best man he could be, because for her he wanted to be nothing less.

"No," he agreed. "You wouldn't and you have forgiven me for things that happened before you were born. Things that were worse than this thing you had to do, and Grace I forgive you, even if there is nothing to forgive."

"I know," she nodded and moved closer to him for the first time since he entered the room she was seeking him.

He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her cautiously to his chest. Scared of breaking progress.

"So why do you want to leave?"

"I don't forgive me," she told his chest as she buried her head in it.

He moved his head to stroke her beautiful hair and rubbed her back. She was his child through and through and he wanted to tell her how silly that was, but he knew all about it.

"Grace, look at me, please," he asked of her, moving his arms so that she could move and she looked up at him, her eyes so green.

"It hurts," he told her, raising his hand to cup her face. "So bad," he swallowed, knowing he was going to be more honest with her than he probably had ever been before. "And you can't think, or breath and you wonder how you can go on, right?"

"Yes."

"I know," he told her, "I know that pain, and I know what it's like to want to quit. To just walk away and act like this was all just a bad dream, but you know what?"

She shook her head.

"If I would have, then I wouldn't have your mother, and I wouldn't have you. I would have given up the best things that have ever happened to me before they even had a chance to happen."

"I don't want to go, Dad," she told him, dropping her eyes.

"I know," he told her, pulling her back into his embrace. "You are just scared, but Grace you don't run when you are scared. You stand there, and you face it, right?"

She nodded into his chest. She was so brave but this was a different kind of fear and she just needed a little help to learn to be strong for this kind too.

"And you aren't alone in this, no matter how it feels. Now will you come with me, I want to show you something?"

She pulled back again, "I can stay?"

"Forever," he told her and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Come with me?"

She nodded again, and he took her hand. They passed Donna and Jack in the console room but they seemed to understand that this was a moment that needed to just be between a girl and her father.

He opened the door, and hand in hand they stepped out on the closest planet that would have been wiped out if she hadn't dropped the vial.

He had landed them just outside a playground and they didn't speak for a while watching the families walking by and the children playing.

"Grace," he spoke to her softly.

She looked at him and he knew that she would be okay. She just needed the love of the people in her life and she had it.

"These are the ones you need to think about, because you saved them. You can't live your life, not our kind of life, counting the losses. You remember them in their honor but you live your life for the ones you save."

He pulled her to his chest, her head resting between his hearts and he smiled down into her hair. She had saved him, and he had saved her and he was glad to have someone to live for, after all those years.

_And every heartache makes you stronger_

_But it won't be much longer_

_You'll find love, you'll find peace_

_And the you you're meant to be_

_I know right now that's not the way you feel_

_But one day you will. _


End file.
